my credit card or the company credit card?

[jtf]

Apply for the card ASAP to make sure you get it before you have to pay the hotel bill. Just so you know, not everyone gets a Hilton property during training. I had the Staybridge Suites (Priority) for Sim, the Embassy (HH) for basin indoc, and the Hyatt for airplane training. The diamond status has nothing to do with the credit card itself. Go to the Hilton Honors website and sign up online. Then call them up and tell them you are with NetJets to get the diamond upgrade. For me they just did it right away. For some they said they didn't do it anymore and those guys needed a little union help to make it happen. You don't really need to worry about getting to diamond until you check out- and make sure they have your HH and airline information (for the double dip) before you are all done checking out. Also make sure to to do all the "my way" stuff on the HH site and also it works best to sign up for the extra points at all the properties. The site says this will remove your free breakfast and waters, but NJ automatically gets free breakfasts and they usually forget and give you all the other stuff anyway, along with the extra points.

 

[jrav8tor]

jtf,

Thanks for the info! I will be signing up ASAP!

 

[yosemite]

Guys,

Go to the Travel Committee page of the NetJets Pilot's Website.

Info on the NetJets Diamond deal is all there.

 

[Ultra Grump]

And when you stay at an Embassy Suites, check in on the kiosk. You're supposed to get an extra 500 points for using the kiosk.

 

[Wankel7]

AOPA Credit card gives you 5% cash rebates for FBO purchases.

 

[RNObased]

AOPA Credit card gives you 5% cash rebates for FBO purchases.

And what are you buying at the FBO's???

 

[mamba20]

The company card of course! Your not working to spend money are you? We work to make money. As far as I see it, its part of the training expense and should be absorbed by the company.

 

[Dassault]

Company card requires you to do the online expense reports that the vast majority (I know I will hear from the loud minority on this) hate. Hilton AmEx gets roughly four times the amount of points allowed on the company program. Eleven years using my own card, no problems.

 

[RNObased]

The company card of course! Your not working to spend money are you? We work to make money. As far as I see it, its part of the training expense and should be absorbed by the company.

Well I'm a little confused by what you are saying. The company absorbes the cost no matter what card you use. How are you spending money?? Money goes out, money comes back in, pay off the card.

As Dassault said, you get more points or miles with your own card and they are easier to use, believe it or not. Make sure you read the fine print on your company card, about how many miles you are entitled to in a year. Use the company card or don't it is all a personal choice.

 

[Ultra Grump]

Hilton AmEx gets roughly four times the amount of points allowed on the company program.

Two problems with this approach. #1, Hilton points are not even worth 1/4 of an airline mile (more like 1/10). #2, The company also buys your airline tickets on the company card, which very often is more than the total for your hotel rooms in a tour. Essentially double-dipping on miles.

Good luck spending $40,000/year on your own card.

You essentially have 3 options, and the best depends on where you live and what result you are trying to achieve:

Option 1 - Company card, you get to keep 40,000 points/year. Again, I doubt you'd reach that, even with the company buying tickets on it. This is the best option if you don't want extra free hotel nights, but rather airline tickets. You still rack up a ton of Hilton points.

Option 2 - Hhonors Amex card. This is best if you don't care about free flights, but prefer the extra free hotel rooms (e.g., you are a retiree and have pass benefits on your former airline). Instead of the 10 points/dollar spent at Hiltons, you get 15.

Option 3 - Any other credit card of your choice, e.g. AAdvantage Visa, etc. This is a good choice if you're at an airport that you will specifically be flying on a given airline most of the time, to get the extra miles on that airline's card. For example, for someone in DAL, the AAdvantage Visa might be a good choice. Again, this is if you prefer to get airline miles over hotel rooms. Because you already will get tons of actual freq flyer miles in this scenario, option 2 might also be appealing, to have a nice balance of airline and hotel points.

Personally, option 1 works best for me. Something else might work best for you. It depends on your situation.